EverQuote Premium (Home): $21,594 spent, $21,763 earned. A net return of $170 on the year, at $491 per auto app against a $99 blended average. Marketing (Home) returns 5.76× on comparable money.
Growth
Lead buying, January–September 2026.
Vendors
| Vendor | Leads | Spend | Cost / auto app | Issued premium | Revenue | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media Alpha | 2,834 | $10,544 | $83 | $216,353 | $44,105 | 3.18× |
| EverQuote | 20,551 | $156,705 | $100 | $3,233,431 | $599,322 | 2.82× |
| Quote Wizard | — | — | — | $9,690 | — | — |
| Smart Financial | 41 | $1,023 | $205 | $9,520 | $1,775 | 0.73× |
| Totals | 23,426 | $168,272 | $99 | $3,477,296 | $645,202 | 2.83× |
Media Alpha beats EverQuote on both cost per auto app and ROI and takes one-fifteenth the budget. ROI formula is John's own: (revenue − spend) ÷ spend, where revenue is 11% of PC premium and PC premium is auto premium doubled plus fire premium.
EverQuote by lead type
| Type | Leads | Spend | Price / lead | Cost / auto app | Revenue | ROI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marketing (Home) | 1,578 | $15,828 | $10.03 | $101 | $106,936 | 5.76× |
| Marketing (Auto) | 10,857 | $82,543 | $7.60 | $75 | $371,004 | 3.49× |
| Preferred | 845 | $3,320 | $3.93 | $114 | $9,549 | 1.88× |
| Standard | 4,825 | $24,900 | $5.16 | $151 | $69,157 | 1.78× |
| Premium + | 476 | $4,872 | $10.24 | $113 | $12,477 | 1.56× |
| Premium (Auto) | 479 | $3,648 | $7.62 | $135 | $8,436 | 1.31× |
| Premium (Home) | 1,491 | $21,594 | $14.48 | $491 | $21,763 | 0.01× |
| Totals | 20,551 | $156,705 | $7.63 | $100 | $599,322 | 2.82× |
How fast leads close
2,616 policies. Median three days.
The one move
Moving the full $21,594 from Premium (Home) into Marketing (Home) at its current 5.76× is worth roughly $124,400 of commission revenue against $21,763 today — about $102,600 on money already committed.
But Marketing (Home) has only absorbed 1,578 leads all year, so first confirm EverQuote can supply the volume.